Houston demands that pastors hand in their sermons on homosexuality or be held in contempt of court.
Fascists: The city of Houston has issued subpoenas demanding that pastors hand in any sermons on the subjects of homosexuality, gender identity or the city’s first openly gay mayor Annise Parker or be held in contempt of court.
Among those slapped with a subpoena is Steve Riggle, the senior pastor of Grace Community Church. He was ordered to produce all speeches and sermons related to Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality and gender identity. The mega-church pastor was also ordered to hand over “all communications with members of your congregation” regarding the non-discrimination law. “This is an attempt to chill pastors from speaking to the cultural issues of the day,” Riggle told me. “The mayor would like to silence our voice. She’s a bully.”
The only reason the city government and the mayor are demanding these sermons is to silence their opponents. Their actions are blatant violations of the first amendment and the freedom of speech, and are an effort to oppress any opposition to their own personal political agendas.
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Fascists: The city of Houston has issued subpoenas demanding that pastors hand in any sermons on the subjects of homosexuality, gender identity or the city’s first openly gay mayor Annise Parker or be held in contempt of court.
Among those slapped with a subpoena is Steve Riggle, the senior pastor of Grace Community Church. He was ordered to produce all speeches and sermons related to Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality and gender identity. The mega-church pastor was also ordered to hand over “all communications with members of your congregation” regarding the non-discrimination law. “This is an attempt to chill pastors from speaking to the cultural issues of the day,” Riggle told me. “The mayor would like to silence our voice. She’s a bully.”
The only reason the city government and the mayor are demanding these sermons is to silence their opponents. Their actions are blatant violations of the first amendment and the freedom of speech, and are an effort to oppress any opposition to their own personal political agendas.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
What about the mosques? Is government siding with Muslims that Christians are the great Satan?
We have the freedom of speech and the freedom to worship, as long it’s not the wrong speech and the wrong worship… Is this governments way of saying convert or else!
If Houston can enforce that requirement, we’re all in trouble.
To poorly paraphrase pastor Martin Niemöller (I’m sure there is an irony about pastors, here, if only I could see it):
‘First they went after the campaign contributors, and few spoke out, because they contributed to the other party. So some contributors lost their jobs, because they participated in American politics.
‘Then they went after the bakers and photographers, and few spoke out, because they were not bakers or photographers. So some bakers and photographers lost their businesses for practicing their beliefs.
‘Now they go after the pastors.’
Who will speak out?
I doubt that anyone will comply. I wouldn’t.
“Houston..we have a problem…not that there’s anything wrong with it, thought.”
They demand sermons relating to specific subjects. What if there were no sermons on those subjects, will they still be found in contempt? This seems set up to place these pastors in contempt regardless of whether or not they gave sermons on these subjects. How many of these churches even maintain records of past sermons?
Also, this is blatantly unconstitutional. The local government in Houston has no right to demand this information nor dictate what goes on in these churches.
I hope the local government pushes this all the way to the supreme court. They really should, it is for the public safety.
And then looses.
During this whole fiasco the elected officials who pushed for this and passed it will find they are voted out of office permanently.
Whether sermons exist or not is totally irrelevant, where does such a legal order come from? What country do these people believe they live in? This is at the foundation of our country’s foundation and some how their are people in a local government that have come to conclude that they should such a thing.
This perfectly demonstrates that government while necessary is in fact the enemy of the people’s freedoms and the only thing that exists to counter balance the abuses of power of this necessary entity that is government, represented by this example, is the Constitution.
“The only reason the city government and the mayor are demanding these sermons is to silence their opponents.”
This seems to be an increasing and recurring theme among US governments at all levels, despite the Constitution.
Andrew Klavan said it well:
http://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/essays-and-commentaries/what-ever-you-do-dont-shut-up
“Whatever you do, don’t shut up.”